| The organisation of Wimbledon is somewhat | | | | quite quickly, though, only lasting for two |
| complicated. Wimbledon is actually a large | | | | weeks. |
| number of tournaments, all being held at the | | | | |
| same time, including men's and women's | | | | When it comes to the actual tournament, |
| singles and doubles events, mixed doubles, | | | | matches are played in three sets in every |
| singles and doubles youth tournaments (also | | | | event except the men's, where there are five |
| split by gender), men's and women's singles | | | | (this is a matter of some controversy). The |
| contests for older players, and wheelchair | | | | tournaments are played as straight knockouts, |
| tennis (doubles only). | | | | meaning that you only have to lose one match |
| | | | to be eliminated - the winner must, |
| Most of the tournaments work the same way. | | | | therefore, win every match they play in. For |
| Whether players are allowed into the | | | | this reason, it is not uncommon to see |
| tournament or not is decided by committee, | | | | players leave the tournament unexpectedly |
| based on current world rankings (although | | | | early if they have an unlucky draw and end up |
| they may also choose to admit 'wild card' | | | | playing a particularly strong player early |
| players with lower rankings than the rest). | | | | on. This structure also means that while 128 |
| In theory, Wimbledon is still a relatively | | | | players start the tournament, 64 of them |
| open tournament, as players who aren't | | | | never make it past their first match. |
| selected this way can enter a qualifying | | | | |
| tournament the week before Wimbledon. | | | | To the victor, however, go the spoils. As |
| Unfortunately, no player who has got in by | | | | well as their trophies, the winners of the |
| this route has ever actually won. | | | | singles tournaments get over £600,000, |
| | | | while the winners of the doubles pocket more |
| If you're wondering when it's on, the answer | | | | than £200,000, with the total prize money |
| is that it varies, but it'll always start | | | | for all entrants exceeding ten million |
| sometime in late June. Wimbledon is over | | | | pounds. |